![]() Trapped, one of the hit singles from his first record, samples James Brown's The Spank.īrown is one of the most sampled artists in hip hop, along with Curtis Mayfield. Tupac sampled a range of artists on his records, such as Herbie Hancock, Pink Floyd, Parliament, Joe Cocker, Public Enemy and Stevie Wonder. It tells the story of a 12-year-old girl from the ghetto who has a baby and ends up slipping into drugs and prostitution and is eventually killed. Songs like Brenda's Got A Baby on his debut studio album, 2Pacalyse Now, highlight that. On the other side was that social conscience, showing all the facets of what life was life in the ghetto as a young black male, telling stories that hadn't been heard, and speaking out for the black community. There was a side of him that wanted to just let it all out and cut loose and not care about consequences. It wasn't necessarily about telling a story in the most intricate and detailed of ways, it was about making you feel like you were there seeing what he was seeing. Tupac's ability to communicate what was going on around him was second to none. " wrote some of the rawest stories, man," he told the LA Times in 1995. He also studied theatre as a teenager at the Baltimore School of Performing Arts, and was inspired by Shakespeare. Tupac took a lot of early inspiration from the politically-charged music of Public Enemy and Ice Cube. He had a level of self-empowerment that made people want to listen to what he had to say.Įven today, you could fly anywhere and surely there'd be someone who knows of Tupac. What he brought to hip hop was a level of rawness and a poetic drive in the way he delivered his words. Instead of war on poverty, they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me.Tupac Shakur, known by his stage names 2Pac, Pac, and Makaveli, is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential rappers of all time. ![]() Can’t a brother get a little peace? There’s war on the streets and the war in the Middle East. The lyrics read: “And still I see no changes. Both of these are ideas that Tupac himself spoke on in the ‘90s and are still relevant today. Most likely he would be alongside his friend and labelmate Snoop Dogg, whose recent activism includes organizing meetings between rival gangs to clean up the streets and setting up a youth football league to reward underprivileged children. How would he react to the police brutality headlines and protests that dominate the media today? Would he join in the protests? Would he kneel with Colin Kaepernick? Would he write music for the cause as he did for the 1992 Special Olympics? In 1991, he received $43,000 after winning a civil suit against the Oakland Police Department following his allegations that police beat him for jaywalking. He had his feuds, his legal run-ins and he offended his fair share of the public. He inspired women with songs like “Keep Ya Head Up,” and provided commentary on society at large in “Changes.”īut despite presenting himself as an observer, Tupac was not without personal controversy. Tupac was able to articulate hardship through music in a way that was uniquely his own. Listeners could feel Brenda’s pain as she struggled to raise her child in “Brenda’s Got a Baby” and the sense of hopelessness the narrator felt in “Trapped” in 1991. His words - at times gently, at others aggressively - illustrated stories as well as any great artist could. His songs and poetry shared a snapshot of the harsh realities of the inner-city neighborhoods that surrounded his youth. He was able to make authentic hip-hop radio friendly long before the Kendricks, Kanyes and J. What is perhaps most interesting, is how seamlessly Tupac would fit into the current climates of both pop culture and politics. Today, he could have been a husband and a father. At the time of his murder, which remains unsolved, he was engaged to the daughter of famed producer Quincy Jones and the sister of actress Rashida Jones, Kidada Jones. Now, 20 years after his death, it is hard not to wonder what he could have been. A legend that - like most - was taken too soon. Tupac Shakur was known as many things in his short life - a poet, a rapper, a producer, an actor, an activist, 2Pac, Makaveli. ![]() He died from his injuries six days later on Sept. Later, as a high-school student, he led rallies for AIDS awareness and spoke out against violence in inner-city neighborhoods.Īt 19, he released his debut album, the politically and socially charged “2Pacalypse Now,” and by 21, he had formed a group called Underground Railroad dedicated to helping disenfranchised youths get off the streets and interested in music. While in elementary school, Tupac Shakur organized a boycott to support a teacher who was fired because of the school’s financial issues.
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